Box filling device

ABSTRACT

Apparatus for stuffing boxes consisting of a bucket adapted to hold a predetermined quantity of material to be placed in a carton, which bucket is transported from a loading station to an ejecting station, and at the ejecting staion coacts with compressing means to compress and align the material to be placed into the carton prior to ejection of the material into the carton. The bucket includes lips actuated during the cycle of the apparatus which insure that the flaps of the carton to be filled are open for proper reception of the material from the bucket.

ilnited States Patent [191 Allen Nov. 19, 1974 BOX FILLING DEVICE 3,721,060 3 1973 Quinto 100/218 x [75] Inventor: gujssell W. Allen, Pompton Plains, Primary Examiner TraviS s. McGehee Attorney, Agent, or FirmThomas Cifelli, Jr. [73] Assignee: Container Equipment Corporation,

Bloomfield, NJ. [57] ABSTRACT [22] Filed: Apr. 20,1973 Apparatus for stuffing boxes consisting of a bucket adapted to hold a predetermined quantity of material [21] Appl' 353169 to be placed in a carton, which bucket is transported from a loading station to an ejecting station, and at the [52] U.S. CI 53/124 D, 100/218, 100/234 j c ing taion coacts with compressing means to com- [51] Int. Cl B65b 63/02 pr n lign he m rial to be placed into the car- [58] Field of Search 53/124 D, 124 R, 252, 258; ton prior to ejection of the material into the carton. loo/218, 232 The bucket includes lips actuated during the cycle of the apparatus which insure that the flaps of the carton [56] References Cited to be filled are open for proper reception of the mate- UNITED STATES PATENTS from the bucket- 3,269,091 8/1966 Martin 53 252 13 Claims, 6 Drawing Figures BOX FILLING DEVICE BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION for garbage containers, etc., which are very slippery and hard to handle and which heretofore had to be manually placed in boxes. Other types of materials, such as bulk wool, have also proved difficult to work with because of the difficulty in conforming the dimensions of the material to be placed in the carton to the dimensions of the carton so as to completely fill the carton.

Additionally, many of these apparatuses have been less than successful in filling assembled cartons which, after filling, would require only the tucking in of a flap or the sealing of a single surface, because these apparat'uses are unable to handle the inner flaps of the carton. If the inner flaps of the carton are not properly positioned prior to inserting the material, then the material cannot properly enter, causing, at best, a delay in the operation of the apparatus and, possibly, serious jamming in the equipment.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to overcome the problems inherent in the prior art, the present invention sets forth apparatus for filling boxes which performs several operations in a predetermined sequence which enable the apparatus to handle heretofore unmanageable materials and place such materials into preassembled boxes without fear of interfering with the inner flaps of the box. Specifically, the invention sets forth a bucket adapted to hold a predetermined quantity of material to be placed in a carton, which bucket is transported from a loading station to an ejecting station, and at the ejecting station coacts with compressing means to compress and align the material to be placed into the carton prior to ejection of the material into the carton. The bucket includes lips actuated during the cycle of the apparatus which insure that the flaps of the carton to be filled are open for proper reception of the material from the bucket.

Accordingly, in view of the above, it is an object of I the present invention to provide an apparatus to insure that a container to be filled with material is always in a properly opened position to receive material to be placed in the container.

It is another object of the present invention to provide apparatus which can be adjusted to handle materials of various sizes, shapes and consistencies, without change in the apparatus.

A further object of the present invention is to provide apparatus which includes control means to provide a sequence of steps which insure maximum efficiency of operation.

It is yet another object of the present invention to provide apparatus which can form the material to be placed in a container to a single unit prior to inserting into the container.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide apparatus which compresses the materials to be stuffed in the box prior to placing the material in the box.

It is a further object of the present invention to pro vide apparatus which can conform the dimensions of material to be placed in a container to the dimensions of the container.

Yet another object of the present invention is to provide apparatus which can fill preassembled containers without leaving excessive empty space in the filled container.

It is another object of the present invention to provide apparatus which is adapted to operate in conjunction with an assembly line, to provide total automation for a container filling operation.

Additionally, it is an object of the present invention to provide apparatus which insures that the tabs of the box will be open to receive the material .to be placed within the box.

It is still a further object of the present invention to provide apparatus which enables loading of materials heretofore unable to be handled by machines.

Yet another object of the present invention is to provide apparatus which is more reliable, durable and relatively economical to construct.

Other objects and advantages will be apparent from the following description of an embodiment of the invention, and the novel features will be particularly pointed out hereinafter in connection with the appended claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a side view of a box'filling apparatus built in accordance with the teachings of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a top view of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a front view of the apparatus shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is a rear view of the apparatus shown in FIG. I.

FIG. 5 is a side elevation of the bucket member shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 6 is a top elevation of the bucket member shown in FIG. 1.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT:

As shown in FIGS. 1 through 6, a box stuffing assembly, generally indicated at 10, rests on a horizontal frame 12 supported by vertical legs 14 elevating the operating equipment to the height of a conveyor belt, schematically indicated at 20, onwhich boxes to be filled with material are placed with the open portion of the box facing towards the box stuffing apparatus. The box stuffing apparatus consists of two separate, identical units, a left or upper unit as seen in FIG. 2, generally designated at 16, and a right or lower unit as seen in FIG. 2, generally designated at 18. Since these units are completely identical, we will only discuss the lower unit 18, since it is understood that the exact description of the lower unit 18 will also be applicable for the upper unit 16.

The lower unit consists of a transfer assembly, generally indicated at 21 adapted to move a bucket generally indicated at 37 into position with respect to an empty carton on the conveyor belt 20, and a compression assembly generally indicated at 72 which compresses the material in the bucket prior to the material being inserted from the bucket into the empty carton.

The transfer assembly 21 consists of a transfer carriage 22 which is slidably mounted on transfer carriage guide ways 24 by means of transfer way guide blocks 26 and 27 fore and aft connected to the underside of the transfer carriage. The carriage is reciprocally moved along the guide way by means of a transfer cylinder 28 mounted underneath the frame 12 on cross supports 30 and 31 fore and aft respectively. Also mounted to the cross supports are transfer cylinder pulleys 32 and 33 fore and aft respectively around which is mounted a pulley displacement wire 34 which is connected at each of its ends to the. piston (not shown) of the transfer cylinder 28, and which pulley displacement wire 34 is attached to a connecting member 36 which is fastened to the underside of the transfer carriage 22. Therefore, by actuating the transfer cylinder, whether this is a pneumatic or hydraulic cylinder, the pulley displacement wire, guided by pulleys 31 and 33, will be moved as the transfer cylinder moves, thereby drawing the transfer carriage, through the connecting member, along the guide ways, so that the entire bucket 37 will be moved fore and aft, depending upon the position in which the bucket is desired.

Bucket 37 has vertical side walls 38 and a horizontal bottom 40 which is fixedly connected to the transfer carriage by means of connecting bars 42 and 43 fore and aft respectively which fasten to the transfer carriage by any convenient means, as, for example, by bolts as shown in FIG. 5.

A support bar 44 is mounted underneath the floor of the bucket to strengthen the bucket floor against the compressive forces exerted from the compression assembly which will be described below. A bellying bar or strip 48 is mounted on the upper surface of the floor of the bucket and serves the purpose of bowing or bellying out any flat items which are placed or stacked in the bucket for stuffing into a container, so that the material will lie over the pick up shoes 46 extending'from the rear wall of the bucket.

When the transfer carriage moves to the forward or eject position, bucket 37 will be placed directly under the compression assembly 72, consisting of a compression frame 74, having legs 76 and a horizontal support member 78 disposed vertically above the forward position of the bucket. A compression piston 80. extends from a compression cylinder 82 mounted on the horizontal support 78 and drives a compression plate 86' downward into the bucket 37 guided by vertical guides 84 mounted on horizontal member 78 and guide rods 85 connected to the compression plate. The compression plate is rectangular in shape, having a width approximately equal to, although somewhat smaller than, the distance between the side walls of the bucket.

Simultaneously with the actuation of the compression assembly, opening lips 58 on each side wall of the bucket are actuated from a normally closed position shown in dotted lines in FIG. 6, to the open position shown in full lines in FIG. 6. The opening lips have a tapered edge 60 which is adapted to allow them to easily fit within the flaps of an empty box, and the opening lips are designed to insure that the flaps of the empty carton to be stuffed are placed in a proper open position to receive the material to be stuffed into the container. The lips 58 are connected to the side walls 38 of the bucket by means of lip hinges 62 and are actuated by means of lip actuating fingers 64 connected to the lips and connected by swivel hinges 66 to pistons 70 of finger cylinders 68 mounted on the external side walls of the bucket, as by means of a post and pin connection 69, as shown in FIGS. and 6. In the normally closed position, the lips coact to narrow the front opening or mouth of the bucket to prevent material in the bucket from spilling out the mouth of the bucket. The mouth of the bucket is the unobstructed distance between the two ends of the opening lip means, which move transversely to the plane of the side walls or the distance between a side wall and the end of the opposing opening lip means if there is only one operative lip means.

With the bucket in the forward position, the compression plate in the down position, and the bucket lips open, the material which had been placed in the bucket at the rear or loading station is now ready to be ejected from the mouth of the bucket and thereby inserted into the carton.

The insertion of the material from the bucket into the carton is accomplished by means of the bucket cylinder moving the rear wall 54 of the bucket 37 forward, thereby ejecting the material from the bucket into the carton. As seen most clearly in FIGS. 3, 5 and 6, the rear wall of the bucket 54 is positioned beneath a bucket cross wall support 55, from which extend a plurality of stacking rods 53 bent downward to act as a guide for placing and stacking material within the bucket when the bucket is at the rear or loading position, as shown by unit 16 in FIG. 2.

The bucket cylinder 50 is mounted on bucket cylinder support rods 51 and support members 47 and 49 fore and aft, which are fixed to the support rods 51 and into which the cylinder 50 is placed. The front of the bucket cylinder support rods 51 may be connected to a top bucket cross wall support as shown in FIGS. 2 and 5 to further strengthen the bucket cylinder assembly. The entire bucket cylinder may be moved in relation to the transfer carriage to adjust the position of the bucket at the loading and ejecting stations. The movement is provided by a bucket cylinder adjusting assembly generally indicated at 88 and as shown in the enlarged portion of FIG. 2 which consists of an indicator member 90 connected to the bottom of the rear support member 49 for the bucket cylinder, and a scale 92 which is mounted on the side of the transfer carriage, and coacts with the indicator. The entire assembly can be moved forward or back by merely adjusting the adjusting screw 94 by means of adjusting nut 96,

thereby moving the entire bucket cylinder assembly The operating cycle is started by actuating the transfer carriage cylinder 28 to move the transfer carriage from the loading station. The transfer cylinder actuation can be interconnected with an automated counting device which will determine when the bucket at the loading station has been filled with its proper quantity of material and with the conveyor belt to insure that a carton is ready to be filled. When the proper quantity of material has been placed into the bucket, the bucket filling will stop, and the transfer cylinder 28, which is a double-acting cylinder, will be actuated to move the entire transfer carriage with the bucket fixedly at tached thereto, to the'ejecting station, as shown by the lower apparatus 18 in FIG. 2. When the transfer carriage reaches the forward position, a transfer carriage switch actuator 102 will actuate the transfer carriage switch 100 mounted on the horizontal portion of frame 12'. This switch will then energize a power fluid source to the compression cylinder 82 and simultaneously to the two finger cylinders 68, one located on each side of the bucket. Therefore, only after the bucket has reached the eject position, will the compression plate 86 come down to compress the material loosely stacked in the bucket down to the desired heightfor the stack to be inserted into the carton, and, at the same time, the lips of the bucket 58 will be sprung open to insure that the flaps of the carton will be fully open in order to receive the material to be ejected into the empty carton.

Additionally, when the transfer carriage was moved to the forward position, while actuating the transfer carriage travel switch 100, a bucket cylinder insert switch actuator 110 mounted on the support rods 51 for the bucket cylinder also actuates a bucket cylinder insert switch 108 which is placed in series with the compression cylinder down switch 104 so that once the compression cylinder down switch is actuated, the bucket cylinder insert switch which has previously been actuated can function to provide power fluid to the bucket cylinder 50.

When the compression plate 86 extends down to its predetermined position, a compression cylinder down switch actuator 106 will actuate a compression cylinder down switch 104 which is mounted on the compression frame horizontal support 78. The compression cylinder down switch 104 will actuate means to provide pressure fluid to the bucket cylinder 50 which will then push bucket cylinder piston 52 and, therefore, rear wall 54 of the bucket forward a predetermined distance to eject the material in the bucket into the empty carton.

It should be noted at this point that the rear wall 54 of the bucket has slots 56 formed in it which are in registration with the position of the stacking rods 53 extending from the bucket cross wall support 55 so that there is no interference by the stacking rods 53 with the movement of the rear wall 54 in ejecting the material which has been compressed in the bucket.

Actuation of the bucket cylinder 50 to push to rear wall of the bucket forward thereby ejecting the contents of the bucket into the carton will automatically actuate a power fluid control mechanism to enable the various cylinders to return to their original positions. Therefore, the compression cylinder will rise to its upper position, and when this position is reached, the compression cylinder up switch 116 will be actuated by the top of the compression plate 118. Also, the transport carriage cylinder 28 will move the carriage to the rearward position, as shown by apparatus 16 in FIG. 2, and thus, the interlock return switch 112 which will be actuated by the same transfer carriage switch actuator 102 as is used for actuating the transfer carriage switch. Once the interlock switch 112 has been actuated and the compression plate up switch 116 actuated, then the system is automatically at rest and will await a signal to recommence the cycle.

The second apparatus in the system, as mentioned previously, operates indentically with the first one, and the cycling between the left side and right side apparatus l6 and 18 respectively can be adjusted into any sort of phased relationship that is desired.

It should be pointed out that the construction of the bucket could be modified within the scope of the invention. S0, for example, the opening lip means 58 could be actuated by a cylinder positioned under the bottom 40. It is even possible that the bucket could operate v It will be understood that various changes in the details, materials and arrangements of parts which have been herein described and illustrated in order to explain the nature of the invention may be made by those skilled in the art within the principle and scope of the invention, as expressed in the appended claims.

What isclaimed is:

l. The receptacle for transporting material and inserting said material into a container comprising:

a bottom surface having a front and back side;

a rear wall disposed above said bottom surface, constructed and arranged to move forward and backward above said bottom surface;

first and second side walls extending above said bot tom surface;

opening lip means movably connected to at least one of said bottom surface and side walls; and

lip moving means connected to at least one of said bottom surface and said side walls to move one end of said lip means transverse to the plane of said side wall to increase and decrease the size of the from opening of said receptacle;

wherein said opening lip means comprise first and second lip means operatively associated with said first and second side walls respectively; and

said lip moving means move said first and second lip means in opposing manner; and

wherein first and second lip means are pivotally mounted to said first and second side walls; and

wherein said lip moving means comprise translation extension means to produce translational move ment to actuate said opening lip means; and

wherein said lip moving means further comprise means to convert the translation movement of said translation extension means to rotary movement to pivot said opening lip means;

further comprising shoe means connected to said rear wall and disposed parallel to and adjacent said bottom surface to move along said bottom surface to gather material in said container for movement to the front opening of said container; and

further comprising:

bellying bar means disposed on the bottom surface of said container extending from said bottom surface above said shoe means; and

said shoe means comprising segments disposed on either side of said bellying bar.

2. The receptacle for transporting material and inserting said material into a container according to claim 1, further comprising a horizontal cross support disposed above said bottom surface and extending from said first to said second side wall.

3. The receptacle for transporting material and inserting said material into a container according to claim 2, further comprising stacking rods extending downward from said horizontal cross support towards said bottom surface to align material placed in said container.

4. Apparatus for filling containers, comprising:

a bucket for holding material to be placed in containers;

means to transport said bucket between a filling position and an ejecting position;

means to compress material in said bucket at said ejecting position;

said bucket comprising opening lip means movable to hold material within said bucket in one position and in a second position to open flaps of containers to be filled;

means to actuate said opening lips of said bucket; and

means to eject material from said bucket into said container to be filled.

5. The apparatus for filling containers according to claim 4, wherein said bucket further comprises:

a bottom surface having a front and back side;

a rear wall disposed above said bottom surface, constructed and arranged to move forward and backward above said bottom surface;

first and second side walls extending above said bottom surface; and

said opening lip means movably connected to at least one of said bottom surface and side walls.

6. The apparatus for filling containers according to claim 5, wherein said means to eject material from said bucket comprise:

lip moving means connected to at least one of said bottom surface and said side walls to move one end of said lip means transverse to the plane of said side wall to increase and decrease the size of the front opening of said bucket; and

means to move said back wall forward when said opening lip means are positioned to increase the size of the front opening of said bucket.

7. The apparatus for filling containers according to claim 6, wherein said means to compress material in said bucket comprise:

a compression plate disposed above the ejecting posi tion of the bucket; and

means to move said compression plate vertically down into said bucket when said bucket is positioned at said ejecting station.

8. The apparatus for filling containers according to claim 7, further comprising means to prevent said compression plate from descending while said opening lips are positioned to narrow the mouth of the bucket.

9. The apparatus for filling containers according to claim 8 wherein means to transport said bucket between a filling position and an ejecting position comprise:

a transfer carriage;

said bucket fixedly mounted to said transfer carriage;

and

means to reciprocate said transfer carriage between a forward and backward position.

10. The apparatus for filling containers according to claim 9 wherein said means to eject material from said bucket into said container to be filled further comprise:

means to prevent downward movement of said compression plate until said transfer carriage has moved said bucket to said ejecting position; and

means to prevent forward movement of said back wall of said bucket until said compression plate has moved downward.

11. The apparatus for filling containers according to claim 10, wherein:

said opening lip means comprise first and second opening lips pivotally connected to said first and second side walls of said bucket respectively; and

said lip moving means move said first and second lip means in opposing manner. 12. The apparatus for filling containers according to claim 11, wherein said lip moving means comprise:

translation movement means mounted on said first and second side walls of said cylinder; and

means to convert translation movement of said trans- I 

1. The receptacle for transporting material and inserting said material into a container comprising: a bottom surface having a front and back side; a rear wall disposed above said bottom surface, constructed and arranged to move forward and backward above said bottom surface; first and second side walls extending above said bottom surface; opening lip means movably connected to at least one of said bottom surface and side walls; and lip moving means connected to at least one of said bottom surface and said side walls to move one end of said lip means transverse to the plane of said side wall to increase and decrease the size of the front opening of said receptacle; wherein said opening lip means comprise first and second lip means operatively associated with said first and second side walls respectively; and said lip moving means move said first and second lip means in opposing manner; and wherein first and second lip means are pivotally mOunted to said first and second side walls; and wherein said lip moving means comprise translation extension means to produce translational movement to actuate said opening lip means; and wherein said lip moving means further comprise means to convert the translation movement of said translation extension means to rotary movement to pivot said opening lip means; further comprising shoe means connected to said rear wall and disposed parallel to and adjacent said bottom surface to move along said bottom surface to gather material in said container for movement to the front opening of said container; and further comprising: bellying bar means disposed on the bottom surface of said container extending from said bottom surface above said shoe means; and said shoe means comprising segments disposed on either side of said bellying bar.
 2. The receptacle for transporting material and inserting said material into a container according to claim 1, further comprising a horizontal cross support disposed above said bottom surface and extending from said first to said second side wall.
 3. The receptacle for transporting material and inserting said material into a container according to claim 2, further comprising stacking rods extending downward from said horizontal cross support towards said bottom surface to align material placed in said container.
 4. Apparatus for filling containers, comprising: a bucket for holding material to be placed in containers; means to transport said bucket between a filling position and an ejecting position; means to compress material in said bucket at said ejecting position; said bucket comprising opening lip means movable to hold material within said bucket in one position and in a second position to open flaps of containers to be filled; means to actuate said opening lips of said bucket; and means to eject material from said bucket into said container to be filled.
 5. The apparatus for filling containers according to claim 4, wherein said bucket further comprises: a bottom surface having a front and back side; a rear wall disposed above said bottom surface, constructed and arranged to move forward and backward above said bottom surface; first and second side walls extending above said bottom surface; and said opening lip means movably connected to at least one of said bottom surface and side walls.
 6. The apparatus for filling containers according to claim 5, wherein said means to eject material from said bucket comprise: lip moving means connected to at least one of said bottom surface and said side walls to move one end of said lip means transverse to the plane of said side wall to increase and decrease the size of the front opening of said bucket; and means to move said back wall forward when said opening lip means are positioned to increase the size of the front opening of said bucket.
 7. The apparatus for filling containers according to claim 6, wherein said means to compress material in said bucket comprise: a compression plate disposed above the ejecting position of the bucket; and means to move said compression plate vertically down into said bucket when said bucket is positioned at said ejecting station.
 8. The apparatus for filling containers according to claim 7, further comprising means to prevent said compression plate from descending while said opening lips are positioned to narrow the mouth of the bucket.
 9. The apparatus for filling containers according to claim 8 wherein means to transport said bucket between a filling position and an ejecting position comprise: a transfer carriage; said bucket fixedly mounted to said transfer carriage; and means to reciprocate said transfer carriage between a forward and backward position.
 10. The apparatus for filling containers according to claim 9 wherein said means to eject material from said bucket into said container to be filled further cOmprise: means to prevent downward movement of said compression plate until said transfer carriage has moved said bucket to said ejecting position; and means to prevent forward movement of said back wall of said bucket until said compression plate has moved downward.
 11. The apparatus for filling containers according to claim 10, wherein: said opening lip means comprise first and second opening lips pivotally connected to said first and second side walls of said bucket respectively; and said lip moving means move said first and second lip means in opposing manner.
 12. The apparatus for filling containers according to claim 11, wherein said lip moving means comprise: translation movement means mounted on said first and second side walls of said cylinder; and means to convert translation movement of said translation movement means to rotary movement to pivot said opening lip means.
 13. The apparatus for filling containers according to claim 12, further comprising shoe means connected to said rear wall of said bucket and disposed parallel to and adjacent said bottom surface of said bucket to move along said bottom surface to gather material in said bucket for movement to the front opening of said bucket. 